Darkness is Light
by Mystical Spork
Summary: When the Titans help a friend in trouble, will Raven be the one who's hurt? ONEshot


**This is Mulch Diggums beginning another collaboration story with Wiley Card. We seem to sort of have a series, interesting. **_Yes, interesting. Well, this time we're back to write about another character of the beloved Teen Titans show, but not Beast Boy or Robin because you may know we already did those two. _**If you didn't, look under my penname. Well, disclaimer time. We own as much as you think we own. (Please, think nicely!) **_Because if you don't then the real owners of TT are going to come after us with rabid dogs. _**And I have a fear of dogs! HEEELLPPPPPP! **_We're going to ignore M.D.'s screams and move on with the story, okay?_** Humph. I thought you liked me.**

**Darkness is Light**

* * *

The birds chirped with joy as children laughed and dogs barked. Yes, the world was filled with light today.

Except for one room in Titans Tower. The dark girl remained hidden from the world, buried under a mountain of blankets. When an alarm rang, only a pale gray arm emerged to smash the offending object. Groaning, Raven refused to admit to the fact that it was a new day.

But she couldn't ignore it anymore. Today was the painful anniversary. The day her world turned just a little bit darker.

The day when her mother died.

Perhaps she could drown herself in sheets and no one would notice. After all, no one would dare come in her room, right? Wrong. She sighed as a memory involving a certain mirror swam to the surface.

What was the point? The past was something you could never escape, it could never be countered, no matter how hard you tried to hide, it always found you.

What to do? Get up, face the sunlight, the laughing cheery faces of her friends, when all she wanted to do was sit and weep. But that was impossible. She had to be emotionless. History had taught her that. All she could bring to life was pain.

Raven sat back down on her bed, burying her face in both hands. Pain. That was something tangible, something she could feel. After all, she had been feeling it her whole life.

No, that was a lie. There were a few who had been able to break through her waves of agony and lead her into the light, if not only for a little while. But those could not help now. No one could.

'Well Raven.' She asked herself. 'How do you plan on spending Mother's day of death?'

The answer seemingly presented itself. From the kitchen of the Tower, she heard shouts that indicated Beast Boy had made tofu something for breakfast again. She got up, whishing that the day was over already.

Maybe, just maybe, her friends would bring her the joy that seemed to engulf the day. But maybe was a very fickle word. Who knew what the day's events would bring?

* * *

"Raven! You emerge from your room at last!" Starfire greeted her friend happily, as per usual.

'Why does it always have to be happy with her?' Raven groaned to herself.

"Starfire. Good to see you too." There. Now if she could just get away, maybe curl up with a book and ignore everything for the next twenty-four hours.

But that hope was snatched away by two very sunny words. "Morning, Raven!" Beast Boy's voice sounded from the couch. Cyborg suddenly looked away from the latest gadget he had been fixing and up at her. 'Rae? You okay?" The concern in the half-robot's voice was apparent.

Groaning loudly, she waited for the response from the only person who had yet to speak to her this morning. "What's wrong with you?" Robin asked, snapping out of the instruction manual he was memorizing.

"It's…nothing. I just didn't sleep well."

Robin walked up to her anxiously. "The last time you said something to that effect, Trigon came to town."

"Don't worry. It's not that."

Beast Boy bounded up beside his spiky-haired friend. "Well good, then it can't be that bad! Why don't you tell us?"

"Because!" The two backed away at Raven's tone of voice.

"Raven…" Starfire trailed off.

"Look, I just need to be left alone." She shot at her four friends, before a large black aura engulfed her and she fell through the floor.

"Well," Robin said, "I'd say she's in a mood."

"Perhaps we should go consol her." Starfire worriedly suggested. Robin shook his head at this statement. "No, I know Raven. If she says she needs to be alone, then she definitely needs to be alone."

Beast Boy looked up. "Can we at least make sure she's okay later?"

Nodding reluctantly, the other Titans nervously returned to their previous activities, though with far less enthusiasm.

* * *

Raven sat on her bed, thinking very hard about nothing. How could she have been so harsh to them? They were only trying to help!

She made up her mind. In a few minutes, she would go back and apologize. But her plan was interrupted by the blaring of an alarm. Jumping off her bed, grumbling and wondering what the reason for the police was if they were never called to duty. She was just in time to hear Robin's copy written phrase. "Titans! Trouble!"

This was followed by Cyborg. "No, really?"

"Oh, just come on!"

Sighing, she joined her friends as they rushed off their beloved island. She kept her face even through the entire flight, but something was bothering her.

Was this really what she should be doing to honor her mother's memory?

The roar of the monster Plasmus startled her out of her thoughts. She spun around just in time to be thrown against a brick wall by a rather large glob of gunk.

"Gross."

She paused suddenly as an odd feeling overcame her. The warmth of the summer afternoon disappeared. The bright sights and sounds became enshrouded in darkness and sadness. Perplexed, she looked over to where her friends were dueling with their enemy. Why did they not notice the change in the world?

Then, the part of her mind that had been switched off for a second returned. 'Mother.'

A voice tore through the air, rippling the eeriness that engulfed her surroundings. It was simple, unemotional, and oddly calm. "Help us, Raven."

She looked around, confused.

Her eyes widened at the sight she saw now. The colors had melted away from the world completely, only grayness remained. There was still movement to be seen, yet it had been drastically slowed. Watching Robin throw a freeze-disk in slow motion, she shook her head and stood up; avoiding her teammates as they slowly charged the enemy.

'Who are you?" She whispered.

"We need you Raven. We need a home." Suddenly, pain gripped every square inch of her body. The girl's mind was filled with static. Unleashing a scream, she fell to her knees, clutching her head.

Starfire looked over to her teammate-her friend. "RAVEN!" But she could not hear their pleas for reassurance. "Get…away!" She spat through clenched teeth. Forcing herself to stand, she screamed the words in both pain and determination.

"Azerath…Metrion…ZINTHOS!"

A brilliant white light encircled her. The screams of the entities swirled in the air. A white beam shot out from the center of the circle, disappearing into the sky. Two wings formed from the beam. Then, all at once, the screams crumpled and died, the white circle disappeared in a flash of blinding light, and the exhausted girl fell to the ground.

Giving Plasmus one last starbolt, the Tameranian princess flew over. Groaning, Raven forced herself to lift her head and look at the four people surrounding her, before fading into unconsciousness.

* * *

Back at the tower, Cyborg hooked up the still unconscious Raven to sensors. Beast Boy sat in a nearby chair, silent for once. Robin stood near Raven's bed, holding his chin in his hands. Starfire was the only one in the mood for asking questions. "What happened to her?"

"I'm not sure yet. That's what these are for." Cyborg's tone was not rude, merely clipped. He was just as worried as anyone.

Raven's eyes shot open. She remained perfectly still as her friends jumped back, startled.

"Should we say something?" Robin jumped when he realized that words were coming from Raven's mouth.

"Titans." What sounded like a thousand voices emerged from Raven's throat. "Our bodies were destroyed along with our home. We come in search of new ones. The girl repels us, we cannot stay. But we come to give you a warning. Stay away from our business, and you will be spared."

Robin seemed to be the only one whose vocal capacities were functioning. "Who are you? What do you want with Raven?"

"We are Azerath." The voice spoke, a sense of pride evident in their voices. Raven's eyelids then collapsed, and her muscles relaxed. She had fallen into a deep and peaceful slumber.

* * *

Several hours later, Raven jolted awake. A pounding headache and a sore throat prevented thought for a few minutes. A hand landed on her shoulder. She shot up, prepared to take on the worst.

"Raven, chill, it's just me, Beast Boy."

Shaking her head and rubbing her eyes, Raven fell back onto the pillows, trying desperately to forget the feeling she had experienced just a few hours before. "Wh-what happened?" She finally managed to croak out.

Refusing to answer the panicked girl for several moments, he shook his head and forced his own pair of emerald eyes to meet her amethyst ones.

'We don't know."

She nodded. "Can you describe to me what happened, then?"

Beast Boy thought a moment before speaking. "We were in the middle of a fight with Plasmus and then you all the sudden wierded out on us. You started just walking right in front of us while we were in the middle of our attacks. You started and then you went down screaming. It was really scary, even Robin says so. Well, then there was this big flash of light, Plasmus dropped, and you got K.O.ed for some reason."

"It almost sounds like forceful possession, but my soul can't be possessed."

Smiling at her, Beast Boy offered reassurances. "Whatever it was, it's gone now. You can relax. Night, Raven." He bounced out of the room.

Closing her eyes, Raven surprised herself with the next thought.

'Then where did it go?'

* * *

The next morning, Raven was just as cheerful as usual. So, Beast Boy ended up with a plate of eggs on his head when he was annoyingly insistent that tofu really _was _the best food on earth. Of course, true to tradition, the remaining Titans found this amusing. Their uncontrolled giggles were so loud that the incoming transmission was almost missed. Quickly throwing on a business-like face, Robin answered. "Jericho. What can we help you with?"

Jericho's face registered pain and desperation, before it suddenly went blank. "Titans! Remain out of our affairs, and we will remain out of yours!"

Disbelieving looks crawled onto their faces, obliterating their previous smiles. But only one could see the true evil that boiled just beneath kind Jericho's appearance. This was a darkness she was all too familiar with.

"Trigon." She growled. "Azerath, hear me speak!" Raven reverted to a very formal mode of speech for this. "When I was young, still merely a baby within my mother, you took in my family and me. All my life I have known you a good and kind people. But when my father obliterated your-our-beautiful world, he changed you. Please, leave my friend Jericho be. He is an innocent, and will be driven to the point of insanity playing host to you all. As a former daughter of Azerath, I put forth a plea: Be at peace, elsewhere!"

There was no visible reaction from Jericho. Raven cursed under her breath. "Robin! We need to get to him, fast! He's cracking under the pressure!"

Nodding suddenly in understanding, Robin gave the word. "Titans, Go!"

Raven shouted after them. "And be careful! Don't look into his eyes! Just…don't hurt them." She whispered this last part before losing consciousness and collapsing on the couch.

* * *

Thousands upon thousands of words rushed through his mind, engulfing any sane thought he was attempting to complete. He sank to the floor, clutching his head. It didn't help. The pain was too great, the confusion too overpowering, the voices too cruel, existing without mercy that was not shown to them.

He tried to scream, tried to do anything. It was then he realized he'd been shunted to the side, like an overripe plum standing in the way of the chocolate cake at snack time. Someone else was controlling him. And all those who refused their hold made sure that all they brought was suffering.

A distant memory from the past long dead returned to him. The last words he would ever speak reverberated in his mind.

'It's all your fault.'

Those last few cruel, bitter words were thrown desperately to the wind, to anyone who would listen. They echoed around in his head. Then, it slipped away. Nothing was left anymore, nothing at all. His soul had been buried by thousands of even more greatly tortured ones. They gave no consideration to the fact that he was a human being with worried loved ones, why should they? It was not a luxury they received.

So, he let go. There was nothing left for him, so he allowed his soul to be crushed, slowly but surely. He felt, for one blissful moment, peace. And in that rare second, he remembered them.

A beautiful young woman with cascading brown hair and a sweet smile. Another blonde-haired boy wearing a scowl over a badly hidden grin.

He smiled, and then was gone.

Gone to the world, gone to those he had loved and lost, gone to himself.

The souls of Azerath were pleased, pleased that there was no resistance. Then, someone interrupted.

* * *

Beast Boy was unsure of what animal would be best equipped to fight a herd of good-turned-evil souls living in his friend's body. But his friends didn't seem to share that distinction.

They simply attacked. Keeping their eyes averted, Robin, Cyborg, and Starfire went in with all barrels blasting. Yet none of it seemed to matter. Nothing was bringing them any closer to freeing their friend from his terrible captors. Beast Boy paused to look upon Jericho's once peaceful mountain home.

The battle paused, leaving all of the combatants panting for breath. "Jericho," Robin made one last desperate plea for salvation. "Please, stop. Stop and fight them, not us!" The crazed body switcher responded by throwing a rock in Robin's direction.

All hope disinigrating from their bodies, the Titans found themselves caught off guard when a large astral black bird floated in front of them. The darkness swirled and formed into their friend, and someone else. Someone far less comforting.

"Hello Titans." The sinister voice hissed. "I believe your require my assistance with my son." Slade's eyes narrowed as he looked at the blonde-haired boy.

The last bit of Jericho's sanity fought to the surface. "Stay away!" He mouthed before succumbing once more.

Raven and her friends stood back. Father and son needed to handle this alone. "That's enough, Joseph." Slade's cold, calculating voice announced. No, this was not the voice of a father.

A voice came from Jericho's lips. "My name is Azar, I am the chief Speaker for Azerath."

"I care not who you are. I only care that you are inside Jericho's body." Anger seethed in the tainted souls.

'Do we not have rights? Rights to a body?"

"Not to that body."

The souls chatted amongst themselves inside Jericho's head, discussing this impertinent…intruder. But Slade had long since grown tired of this little tug-of-war match. It was time to act.

And act he did.

Launching himself at the unsuspecting boy, Slade tackled him to the ground. Robin made a move to stop him, but Raven held him back. "He knows what he's doing."

Refusing to yield his friend to a psycho, Robin shot back. "Raven, we can't let him go near Jericho. Who knows what he'll do?"

But it was too late.

"Ah, Joseph. It's too bad, really."

A gasp emerged from the on looking crowd. But it was truly too late. Too late for action, too late for intervention, too late for redemption. They could do nothing as Slade unsheathed a dagger from his belt.

"No!" Beast Boy yelled. But he was gone.

The Titans stood, unmoving but far from unfeeling. Slade walked past them without as much as a backwards glance. But there was no pursuit. No angry words were spoken for Jericho's death, at least not yet. A hand was not raised in offense to what Slade had done.

They had just watched their friend die. The desire to hurt, to exact revenge, it had fallen behind tussles of shock and grief. Even Beast Boy was unable to articulate a comment. Slade stood, picking up his son's limp body.

"Now you can safely say that you have a friend's death on your hands." The madman simply strolled away, disappearing behind the towering rocks and mountaintops.

No one moved, except for Robin. Even then, it was only to drop his head into his hands in total defeat. Raven couldn't bear to see her tortured friends. She forced herself not to look at the bloodied mess before her.

'It was all my fault Slade ended up here. I found him, I brought him here. I prevented my friends from stopping him. I tried to get him to help, I tried to get that evil, egotistical, dishonest son-of-a-'

"Enough." Robin's voice could barely be understood over the sobs that he was quick losing control over. "Enough is enough," He went on. "Slade has the blood on his hands, not us. Not any of us. We need to go home. We need to recover. We need to get ready to take Slade down…permanently." Robin promptly spun around and walked back to the T-ship. Cyborg, Starfire, and Beast Boy followed too numbly to notice where they were going. Raven remained behind.

A realization hit her. A thought she was sure she believed in before, but now knew its true meaning. Not all endings were happy. Life wasn't a perfect story that could be told and retold with only joy and laughter. Happy endings did exist, if you knew where to look.

But this ending would not be happy. Not for the Titans.

Nor for Jericho. Raven spoke his name, just once. Then, with a swirl of her cloak, she joined her friends. But behind her, thousands of tiny rocks had arranged themselves to look like a name. A trace of black energy still lingered on a few.

Slowly, the girl took one step towards the ship. It was the first step towards forgiveness, towards redemption, to healing, to a new beginning.

* * *

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